Niho Kozuru

Lantern Column VI

1998-2014

A descendant of Agano ware ceramists with a family history spanning hundreds of years, Niho Kozuru brings time-honored Japanese craft traditions into the 21st century with her colorful contemporary and abstract sculptures.

At the age of 12, Kozuru moved to the United States with her family after her father, ceramic artist Hajime Gen Kozuru, became a visiting fellow in Harvard University’s Ceramics Program. In her youth, Kozuru was inspired by her father’s work. Later she gained an appreciation of American architecture, crafts and decorative arts, particularly in New England, where she grew up. Kozuru attended the Parsons School of Design in New York, where she obtained a Bachelor of Fine Arts. She then studied at the University of Hawaii, graduating with a Master of Fine Arts. 

Now based in Boston, Kozuru explores the shapes of turned wood and ceramics, often using casts of historic New England finials, urns and balusters. At the start of her sculpting career, Kozuru experimented with materials such as clay, glass and metal before settling on translucent cast rubber. She infuses it with bold, vibrant colors to emit a "positive energy,” as seen in many of her abstract sculptures, such as Liquid Sunshine: Spring Moss (2009), Longfellow Tower (2016) and the Lantern Column series (1998–2014).

Kozuru has participated in numerous solo and group exhibitions throughout the United States and Japan. Her works are featured in several major collections, including the deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum, the Sheldon Museum of Art, the Fuller Craft Museum, the Danforth Art Museum, the Boston Children’s Hospital and the Nogata Tanio Museum in Japan. 

On 1stDibs, find a range of Niho Kozuru’s sculptures and more art.